STYLISTIC SEMASIOLOGY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE Lecture on

STYLISTIC SEMASIOLOGY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE Lecture on English Stylistics 4 th year of study N. P. Izotova, Ph. D

POINTS FOR DISCUSSION 1. The subject matter of stylistic semasiology. 2. Figures of speech, tropes, expressive means and stylistic devices: linguistic status and grounds for differentiation.

POINTS FOR DISCUSSION 3. Image: definition, structure, different perspectives of study. 4. Figures of Substitution and their stylistic potential: q Figures of Quantity (hyperbole, meiosis, litotes) q Figures of Quality (metaphorical group, metonymical group, irony)

What is Stylistic Semasiology? a part of stylistics which investigates stylistic phenomena in the sphere of semantics, i. e. in the sphere of meanings, regardless of the form of linguistic units. It investigates the rules and laws of shifts of meanings; the patterns according to which the meanings are shifted or various combinations of meaning.

Stylistic Semasiology focuses on different means of secondary nomination which are based on the usage of existing words and words combinations to denote new notions or to give new names to the already known objects.

The additional meaning can be created in two ways: q The unusual denotative reference of words, word combinations, utterances and texts (EM); q The unusual distribution of meanings in these units (SD);

Stylistic devices vs. expressive means q. Differential q. Integrated approach: expressive means are the constituents of stylistic devices. (Babelyuk O. A. )

An expressive means is a marked member of a stylistic opposition which has an invariant meaning in language (O. M. Morokhovsky)

A stylistic device is an intentional change of a fixed distribution of language units in speech. (O. M. Morokhovsky)

Semasiological EM n Semasiological EM are figures of substitution = different means of secondary nomination (based on the usage of existing words and word combinations to denote new notions or to give a new name to the already known objects). (O. M. Morokhovsky)

Semasiological SD are figures of combination = stylistically relevant semantic means of combining lexical, syntactical and other units (including EM) belonging to the same or different language units. (O. M. Morokhovsky)

Image: a traditional approach Western tradition Any word expression that imparts picturesqueness and vividness (Gray M. A) “A picture drawn with words”

Image: a traditional approach Russian and Ukrainian traditions qan artistic detail, metaphor or any trope; q a character (персонаж); qa means of cognition, a type of reflection of the surrounding (O. M. Morokhovsky)

IMAGE a verbal subjective description of this or another person, event, occurrence, sight made by the speaker with the help of the whole set of expressive means and stylistic devices. (L. P. Yefimov). a speech fragment that contains imagebearing information (O. M. Morokhovsky)

Image Structure n Tenor n Vehicle n Ground n Relation between Tenor and Vehicle n Types of Comparison n Grammatical and Lexical features of Comparison (I. V. Arnold)

What is Imagery? n Imagery in a broad sense is the property of fiction to convey not only logical (denotative), but also sensuous information (feelings, perceptions, ideas) (O. M. Morokhovsky). n The term imagery refers to combinations or clusters of images that are used to create a dominant impression.

Image: a cognitive approach Image as a textual construal and a cognitive structure which has two planes n a conceptual plane n a verbal plane (L. Bieliekhova)

FIGURES OF SUBSTITUTION q. Figures of Quantity meiosis, litotes) q (hyperbole, Figures of Quality (metaphorical group, metonymical group, irony)

Figures of Quantity Hyperbole is a deliberate exaggeration which is aimed at intensification one of the features of an object to such extent that will show its absurdity. e. g. : She was so tall that I doubt whether she had a face.

Figures of Quantity Meiosis is the figure of speech, contrary to hyperbole, consists in lessening, reducing the real quantity of the object of speech. e. g. : I was half afraid you had forgotten me. It will cost you a pretty penny

Figures of Quantity Litotes is a rhetorical diminishing which includes the negative particles “no, not” before a word with a negative meaning (such a word may possess a negative prefix). e. g. “We don’t need no education”.

Figures of Quality based on transfer of names n Transfer by contiguity n Transfer by similarity n Transfer by contrast

METONYMIC GROUP (based on the contiguity) q. Metonymy q. Synecdoche q. Periphrasis q. Euphemism

Metonymy (Gr. metonumipa, Lat. denominatio) is a secondary nomination unit based on real affinity / association / proximity of the object of nomination with the object whose name is transferred. (O. M. Morokhovsky)

Metonymy e. g. We smiled at each other, but we didn’t speak because there were ears all around us. (Chase) There a lot of good heads in the university. (intelligent people)

Types of Metonymy q Lexical (etymological) – belongs to everyday stock of words and expressions. e. g. I collect old china and the like q Stylistic (expressive) suggests a substitution of one word for another based on unexpected associations on the ground of some strong impressions produced by a chance feature of the object described. e. g. Mess-jacket looked at me with his silent sleek smile (R. Chandler)

Common types of association metonymy is based on: q A symbol for a thing nominated: a crown for a q The container instead of the thing contained: the q Characteristic feature instead of the object itself: king; hall applauded; the kettle has boiled; q Effect instead of the cause: He (fish) desperately takes the death; He was followed by a pair of heavy boots; q An author for his works: to read Byron; q The material for the thing made of it: glasses.

Metonymy: a cognitive perspective “metonymy is a cognitive process in which one conceptual entity, the vehicle, provides mental access to another conceptual entity, the target, within the same idealized cognitive model” (Radden, Kovecses 1999, p. 21).

Synecdoche n consists in using the name of a part to denote the whole, or vice versa. mouths to feed. We need some new blood in the e. g. He’s got five organization. Stop torturing the poor animal!

Periphrasis (Gr. peri – around; phraseo – speak) is naming the characteristic features of the object instead of naming the object itself. e. g. ‘Delia was studying under Rosenstock – you know his repute as a disturber of the piano keys. the punctual savant of all work

EUPHEMISM q is a round-about naming of a thing considered too fearful or too blunt to be named directly. q is a word or a phrase used to replace an unpleasant word or expression by a more acceptable one. religious, political, social, moral, conventional

EUPHEMISM (drunk); correctional institution (a prison); to possess a vivid imagination (to lie); hair butcher (= hair dresser); q to stop payment (= to go bankrupt); the reorganization of the enterprise (= dismissal; sacking; throwing away); q free of jobs (unemployed); depression (crisis); peace mission ( = military actions) q merry

METAPHORIC GROUP (based on similarity, likeness) q METAPHOR q ANTONOMASIA q PERSONIFICATION q ALLEGORY q EPITHET

Все огромное здание Вселенной, преисполненной жизни, покоится на крохотном и воздушном тельце метафоры (Х. Оpтега-и-Гассет)

METAPHOR: A TRADITIONAL APPROACH Classical view Metaphor is a kind of decorative addition to ordinary plain language; Metaphor is seen as a departure from literal language, detected as anomalous. Romantic view (18 -19 centuries) Metaphor is integral to language and thought as a way of experiencing the world

METAPHOR A secondary nomination unit based on likeness, similarity, affinity (real or imaginary) of some features of two different objects. (O. M. Morokhovsky)

Characteristics and features of metaphors n Conventionality n Systematicity n Asymetry n Abstraction

Structural types of METAPHOR simple (elementary) q e. g. But nothing happened. He was stalemated; and he was burning up with marble fever (I. Stone. The Agony and the Ecstasy q Lecoq said, "Just because you put your life and ego into stone doesn’t mean anything will come out of it. (D. Weiss. Naked Came I)

Structural types of METAPHOR Prolonged (sustained) e. g. The world stood still. The traffic stopped, the plants ceased growing, men were paralyzed, the clouds hung in the air, the winds dropped, the tides disappeared, the sun halted in the sky (R. Gordon)

Semantic types of METAPHOR q Trite (conventional, dead) metaphors e. g. flight of fancy; floods of tears, generation of efforts, to fly into passion. q Genuine e. g. Through the open window the dust danced and was golden. His words were coming so fast; they were leap-flogging themselves. (R. Chandler)

METAPHOR: A cognitive perspective q is not inherently a linguistic phenomenon; q is seen as a very important mode of thinking and talking about the world. q as patterns of thought which can be expressed on nonverbal ways such as pictures and gestures.

George Lakoff 1941 is an American cognitive linguist and professor of linguistics at the University of California

Mark Johnson 1949 Knight Professor of Liberal Arts and Sciences in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Oregon

Metaphors We Live by (1980) ‘‘The essence of metaphor is understanding and experiencing one kind of thing in terms of another. ’’ (Lakoff, Johnson)

LOVE IS MADNESS Everyday language: n I’m crazy about her n She drives me out of my mind n He constantly raves about her n He’s gone mad over her n I’m just wild about Harry

LOVE IS MADNESS Poetic Language Love is a torment of the mind Love is a sickness full of woes (Samuel Daniel) When sighs have wasted so my breath / That I lie at the point of death (Henry Howard)

Happy IS Up : My spirits rose. You are in high spirits. SAD IS DOWN: I am feeling down. I’m depressed. He is really low these days. My spirits sank. VIRTUE IS UP: He is high-minded. She has high standards. She is an upstanding citizen. Depravity is Down: That was a low trick. I wouldn’t stoop to that. That was a low-down thing to do. (‘Metaphors We Live By’ by George Lakoff and Mark Johnson)

CREATION IS LIBERATION CREATION IS PROTECTION He liked what he saw; took a piece of charcoal and drew the head and beard of an old man on the marble. Then he pulled up a bench, straddled the block, gripping it with both knees, picked up hammer and chisel. His body settled down with a soughing movement. Tensions within him fell away each falling chip. Stone filled him out, gave him body; he felt implemented and whole. His arms grew lighter and stronger with the passing of the hours. These metal tools clothed him in their own armour. They made him robust (AE, 108). n

dr. Charles Forceville Non-verbal metaphors 1959 A cognitive linguist with a special interest in visual metaphors. An associate professor in the University of Amsterdam’s Media Studies department

Multimodal Metaphor are metaphors whose target and source are each represented exclusively or predominantly in different modes. n Modes: (1) pictorial signs; (2) written signs; (3) spoken signs; (4) gestures; (5) sounds; (6) music (7) smells; (8) tastes; (9) touch. n

Multimodal Metaphor

CAT IS ELEPHANT

Multimodal Metaphor

Personification (Lat. Persona –person, facere – do) is attributing human properties to lifeless objects – mostly to abstract notions, such as thought, actions, intentions, emotions, seasons of the year, etc.

Personification e. g. She had been asleep, always, and now life was thundering imperatively at her doors (J. London) e. g. Slowly, silently, now the moon walks the night in her silvery shoon (shoes) (de la Mare)

Antonomasia The use of the name of a historical, literary, mythological, or biblical personage applied to a person whose characteristic features resemble those of the well-known original. n e. g. Her husband is an Othello. He is the Napoleon of crime (C. Doyle) n

Allegory means expressing abstract ideas through concrete pictures. e. g. All is not gold that glitters Beauty lies in lover’s eyes No rose without a thorn Осень жизни. Утро года. Весы Крест Якорь

EPITHET is based on the interplay of emotive and logical meaning in an attributive word, phrase, or even sentence, used to characterize an object. e. g. a smiling sun, the frowning cloud,

Semantic types of EPITHET q affective (or emotive proper) e. g. ‘gorgeous’, ‘nasty, ‘magnificent’ ‘atrocious’ q figurative (transferred) e. g. a ghost-like face. q Fixed/conventional/standing

Structural types of EPITHET Simple n Pairs of epithets n Chains (strings) of epithets n Compound epithets n Two-step epithets n Sentence and phrase epithets n Reversed epithets n